Power struggle

Explores an account of France’s polarised, uneasy history, from the end of revolution to the present day

HANNA DIAMOND The History of Modern France by Jonathan Fenby Jonathan Fenby’s new history of France spans the 200 years from the restoration in 1815 following the fall of Napoleon, through to the present. Focusing predominantly on France’s political past, it describes the actions of government elites with an emphasis on the roles of significant individuals. Fenby seeks to show that France has never been able to fully embrace its revolutionary heritage, which sits uncomfortably alongside ingrained conservative traditions. He spends little time on the revolutionary period itself, but seeks to explore how revolutionary and reactionary forces have moulded France as the pendulum has swung from one side to the other.

He casts the Second World War, for instance, as a period in which ‘two Frances’ vied for power. On the one hand were those who supported the Vichy government’s policy of Nazi collaboration, while those involved in resistance represented the forces of revolution. Fenby argues that there are few examples when these competing forces have been tamed, citing Charles de Gaulle’s short period of power in the 1940s and the demonstrations in the wake of the recent Charlie Hebdo killings as rare moments of national unity.

Fenby’s well-written, lively narrative is informed by the period of more than 50 years he has spent working as a journalist

“Revolutionary and reactionary forces have moulded France since 1815”